1. Field
The present invention generally relates to techniques for characterizing the performance of a device or a component in a computer system, such as a disk drive. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus that characterizes the response of a device or a component in a computer system to vibration over a frequency range.
2. Related Art
Typically, during vibration testing, a device under test is monitored while the vibration frequency is swept over the frequency range of interest at a constant sweep rate with a constant dwell time at each frequency. However, if the response of the device at frequencies in the frequency range takes varying amounts of time to reach steady state, then a frequency sweep rate that is set too high may underestimate or otherwise mischaracterize the response of the device at frequencies in the frequency range. In order to accurately characterize the steady-state response of the device, the frequency sweep rate may have to be set to be at least as slow as the slowest steady-state response. This can increase the time required to vibration test a device, lowering the testing throughput and potentially increasing the cost of the testing.
Hence, what is needed is a method and system that characterizes a response of a device to vibration over a frequency range without the above-described problems.